Bag closure construction

ABSTRACT

A bag construction has a sheet of material in the form of a flattened tube having front and back panels defining sides and where the tube has an open end. There is a line of weakness proceeding from the open end of the bag through the front and back panels. The line of weakness is located substantially centrally with respect to the sides of the bag and sized so that when the line of weakness is torn, two opposing lengths of material are formed. The lengths sized to allow the tying of a knot thereby, so as to substantially seal the open end of the bag.

CLAIM FOR PRIORITY

This application claims the priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/625,897, filed Apr. 18, 2012, and incorporated into the present application by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

This application relates to constructions that facilitate the closure and sealing of bags, in particular, plastic bags.

2. Background

Typically, plastic bags for holding moderately heavy objects, such as crushed ice, are formed from tubes of thin plastic sheets, welded shut at one end. Several prior-art bags provide either tear-off portions formed on the bag, to be used as a tie, or they provide a wire tie, which is either loosely supplied or removably attached to the exterior of the plastic bag. Such ties usually cannot be conveniently used for re-opening and re-closing the bag, and loosely supplied wire ties are prone to being lost.

Other bag closure methods have attempted to form ears or wings in the bag that can be used to tie the bag shut. Such prior-art bags either create scrap during manufacture, or are formed in complex ways that increase manufacturing costs or make the bag unsuitable for rapid dispensing by automatic machines.

DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a bag of the preferred embodiment lying flat.

FIG. 2 shows a bag of the preferred embodiment having a tear along a line of weakness.

FIG. 3 shows the embodiment with ears created by tearing, now suitable for tying together.

FIG. 4 shows the embodiment with the ears tied together, sealing the bag.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 shows a bag (100) of the preferred embodiment, lying flat. The bag is typically constructed from a flattened tube of plastic, such as PVC, and sealed a one end, such as by welding, and open at the other end. This disclosure is not limited to bags made of plastic, but encompasses bags made of any material with similar characteristics. Such a bag (100) would typically be used in an automatic dispensing mechanism, such as a chute dispenser for crushed ice. The bag (100) has a substantially vertical line of weakness (200) extending from the top edge on both front and back panels of the bag (100). The line of weakness can be created by, for example, a series of perforations, or partial perforations, in the material of the bag (100). The line of weakness is located substantially centrally from the edges of the bag (100), as shown in the figure. No other opening or struck-out portion of the bag is required.

In FIG. 2, a user has pulled the edges of the bag (100) apart from one another, creating a tear (250) along the line of weakness (200). This tear (250) creates two opposing lengths or “ears” (300) at the top of the bag (100). In FIG. 3, the user is gathering the ears (300) together, so that they may be tied into a knot (400), thus completing closure of the bag (100). The length of the ears (300), and thus the length of the line of weakness (200) should be great enough to allow the tying of a simple knot (400), such as a square knot.

In other embodiments, the bag has a flange (275) on its top portion to facilitate dispensing in an automatic dispenser.

None of the description in this application should be read as implying that any particular element, step, or function is an essential element which must be included in the claim scope; the scope of patented subject matter is defined only by the allowed claims. Moreover, none of these claims are intended to invoke paragraph six of 35 U.S.C. Section 112 unless the exact words “means for” are used, followed by a gerund. The claims as filed are intended to be as comprehensive as possible, and no subject matter is intentionally relinquished, dedicated, or abandoned. 

I claim:
 1. A bag construction comprising a sheet of material in the form of a flattened tube; the tube having front and back panels defining sides; the tube having an open end; the bag construction further comprising: a line of weakness; the line of weakness proceeding from the open end of the bag through the front and back panels; the line of weakness located substantially centrally with respect to the sides of the bag; the line of weakness sized so that when the line of weakness is torn, two opposing lengths of material are formed; the lengths sized to allow the tying of a knot thereby, so as to substantially seal the open end of the bag.
 2. The bag construction of claim 1, further comprising a knot tied with the two opposing lengths of material.
 3. The bag construction of claim 1, where the sheet of material is a plastic.
 4. The bag construction of claim 1, where the bag has a flange located at the open end of the bag.
 5. A bag construction comprising a sheet of material in the form of a flattened tube; the tube having front and back panels defining sides; the tube having an open end; the bag construction further comprising: a line of weakness; the line of weakness proceeding from the open end of the bag through the front and back panels; the line of weakness located substantially centrally with respect to the sides of the bag; the line of weakness sized so that when the line of weakness is torn, two opposing lengths of material are formed; the lengths sized to allow the tying of a knot thereby, so as to substantially seal the open end of the bag; and, the bag further comprising where the bag a flange located at the open end of the bag.
 6. The bag construction of claim 1, further comprising a knot tied with the two opposing lengths of material.
 7. The bag construction of claim 1, where the sheet of material is a plastic. 